1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to fishing reels of the type having a spool for retaining a supply of fishing line and, more particularly, to settable structure on the spool to indicate to a user which of multiple different types of line are on the spool.
2. Background Art
It is common for anglers to use different strengths of line for different types of fishing. To facilitate changing from one line type to another, it is known to construct virtually all different types of fishing reels, i.e. baitcast, spinning spincast closed face, etc. with removable spools. This permits the user to keep a plurality of interchangeable spools on hand, each with a different type of line.
Once line is placed on a spool, it may be difficult to ascertain its strength by simple inspection. While experienced anglers can detect gross differences in line strength by a visual inspection, the difference between lines with different but relatively close strengths may not be readily determinable by a user. Accordingly, line type indicators have been devised to give users a visual indication of what type of line is on a spool.
In a most basic form a user can put a tag or label on a spool and on the tag or label identify the line type. Tags and labels are prone to failing off. Additionally, it is inconvenient to keep on hand a supply of tags or labels and to physically apply the tag or label.
As a convenience to the user, a line type indicator has been incorporated into fishing reels, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,203,565, to Puryear. In the Puryear patent, a removable spool is provided on a shaft on a fishing reel. After the spool is assembled, a dial is snap fit to the shaft and can be set to indicate a particular line type. While this system performs adequately with the reel assembled, to disassemble the spool, the dial must be initially removed and separated from the shaft. As a result, there is no line type indicator that remains with the spool, as a result of which the user cannot determine precisely what line is on a collection of spools that may be on hand without some other identifying means.
Another type of line indicator is shown in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/558,387, commonly assigned with the present invention. In that application, a line type indicator is shown that is rotatable with a crank handle. The indicator includes a dial that is rotatable into different positions to identify different line types. In the event that the spool is removed from the reel and the indicator dial is rotated to identify the new line type put on the reel, the user has no means of determining at a later time what line is on the removed spool.
It is also known to incorporate line type indicators on a drag knob associated with the fishing reel. Since the indicator again remains with the fishing reel after the spool is removed, the user is unable to determine line type from the separated spool, other than by analyzing the line by applying a test force.